Online Career Center Job Statistics

CAA’s Online Career Center, the major database for job classifieds in the academic art world, is also an indicator of professional trends in the visual arts. As anticipated in this economic downturn, job postings decreased for full-time positions from CAA’s fiscal year 2008 (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008) to fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009).

In addition, indicators from the US Department of Education and the American Association of University Professors show an increase in contingent faculty (e.g., part-time or adjunct positions). CAA, however, is not able to keep statistics on contingent faculty since most hires are made locally and not posted nationally on the Online Career Center.

General Jobs Statistics

Overall, the Online Career Center posted 1,263 jobs in FY 2009, down from 1,757 in FY 2008. A total of 643 jobs have appeared in the first six months of the current fiscal year (July 1–December 31, 2009).

In the charts below, please keep in mind that each job can be posted to multiple categories, so there is not a one-to-one relationship between job and category. Also, the category “Any” is for employers that are looking for someone to teach a broad range of classes.

The ten most frequent postings by specialty for studio art and art history in fiscal year 2009 are used as the baseline in the following four charts:

Studio Art

FY09

FY08

Any

629

1,005

Graphic/Industrial/Object

185

246

Digital/Media/Animation

150

220

Drawing/Printmaking/Paper

96

130

Sculpture/Installation/Environmental Art

92

99

Ceramics/Metals/Fiber

89

92

Photography

85

143

Art Education

73

90

Film/Video

70

89

Foundations

59

90

The above statistics represent a 30.7 percent decline in the number of positions posted in studio art.

Art History

FY09

FY08

Any

445

561

Contemporary Art

101

107

Twentieth-Century Art

79

89

General Art History

77

110

Renaissance/Baroque Art

60

64

Japanese/Korean Art

56

39

Nineteenth-Century Art

52

61

Chinese Art

49

39

South/Southeast Asian Art

45

47

Art of the United States

35

49

The above statistics represent a 14.3 percent decline in the number of positions posted in art history.

A comparison of the top-ten specializations posted in last six months (July 1–December 31, 2009) to the same period in 2008 demonstrates an overall decline of 28.9 percent in studio-art job postings.

Studio Art

2009

2008

Any

320

524

Graphic/Industrial/Object

109

124

Digital/Media/Animation

80

112

Drawing/Printmaking/Paper

45

74

Sculpture/Installation/Environmental Art

72

32

Ceramics/Metals/Fiber

42

69

Photography

50

63

Art Education

33

56

Film/Video

39

55

Foundations

31

46

Similarly, job postings in art history has seen an overall decline of 36.9.

Art History

2009

2008

Any

234

329

Contemporary Art

34

77

Twentieth-Century Art

26

60

General Art History

38

56

Renaissance/Baroque Art

25

46

Japanese/Korean Art

28

47

Nineteenth-Century Art

21

42

Chinese Art

28

41

South/Southeast Asian Art

24

38

Art of the United States

22

24

Jobs by States and Provinces

All postings indexed by US state and Canadian province include the following top ten in the two previous fiscal years, and the first six months of the current year.

FY 2008 (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008)

1. New York

196

2. California

139

3. Pennsylvania

107

4. Texas

100

5. Illinois

99

6. Michigan

87

7. Massachusetts

81

8. Georgia

70

9. Florida

62

10. Ohio

55

FY 2009 (July 1, 2008–June 30, 2009)

1. New York

119

2. California

92

3. Pennsylvania

78

4. Illinois

75

5. Georgia

72

6. Texas

64

7. Massachusetts

62

8. Ohio

58

9. Michigan

55

10. Indiana

33

First half of FY 2010 (July 1–December 31, 2009)

1. New York

66

2. Illinois

50

3. Pennsylvania

42

4. Texas

36

5. California

31

6. Florida

28

7. Georgia and Missouri

27

8. Massachusetts

26

9. Michigan

25

10. Ohio

23

2010 CAA Annual Conference in Chicago

As of February 2, 54 employers have indicated they are interviewing at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago: 16 booths and 31 tables in the Interview Hall have been rented, and 7 employers have told CAA about plans to interview offsite. Additional employers, which do not always inform CAA of their presence, are expected.

These numbers are similar to those for last year’s conference, when 59 institutions came to Los Angeles. CAA rented 9 booths and 37 tables in the Interview Hall; 13 employers interviewed offsite.

In comparison, at the 2008 Annual Conference in Dallas–Fort Worth—held before the recession had emerged—CAA rented 40 booths and 64 tables in the Interview Hall. Thirty institutions made interview arrangements elsewhere, bringing the total for that year to 134.

That’s a 56 percent drop in the number of institutions between the 2008 and 2009 conferences, and nearly the same decrease (60 percent) when comparing 2008 to the early totals for 2010.

Interviews at the Annual Conference, however, are just one part of Career Services offered by CAA in Chicago. Schools and institutions also meet informally with job seekers in the tables section of the Interview Hall. CAA offers professional-development workshops and roundtable discussions on a variety of career-related topics at the conference, and networking is encouraged in the Student and Emerging Professionals Lounge, which is host to special events throughout the 2010 conference.

Contact

You may request statistical information in other specializations for studio art and art history from Eugenia Lewis, CAA controller.